Actor Ezra Miller, soon to be seen as a gay high school student in the film adaptation of the much-loved novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower, says he identifies as queer in anOut magazine cover story.

“I’m queer,” he says in the interview. “I have a lot of really wonderful friends who are of very different sexes and genders. I am very much in love with no one in particular."

Miller, who last year gave a riveting performance as Tilda Swinton's disturbed son in We Need to Talk About Kevin, reveals he was mocked for having a speech impediment as a kid. Then came a life-changing experience. “I was trying to kiss boys in school,” he says, and then the best friend he fooled around with turned on him. “He had some macho realization that led him to believe that I was the problem. So I went from having a stutter to being a totally gay little opera singer to being, like, a really confused queer adolescent.”

He stars as Patrick, a proudly gay high school student in Perks. Based on the acclaimed 1999 novel by Stephen Chbosky, the film, directed by the author, will be released in theaters September 21.